Knoll Shares Got Crushed: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of furniture company Knoll (NYS: KNL) fell 17% at the start of trading today, after the company released fourth-quarter earnings and announced two acquisitions. Since the big sell-off, shares have recovered much of that loss and are trading down 3% as of this writing.

So what: In the fourth quarter of 2011, sales fell 7% to $223.1 million, driven by weak demand in the company's office segment. Earnings per share after excluding one-time items were $0.30, falling well short of the $0.37 in earnings per share that analysts had expected.

The company also announced the acquisition of FilzFelt and Richard Schultz Design, adding to the company's specialty designs.

Now what: Management thinks that weakness seen in the fourth quarter will continue into the first half of 2012 but doesn't indicate a long-term decline. Since government spending is being scrutinized from the federal level to municipalities, it isn't at all shocking that this part of Knoll's business is suffering. With shares recovering most of their losses, I'm not seeing a great buying opportunity for today and would wait for either a better entry point or a turnaround in earnings.

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